Faith and Socialism

by Josh Hatala, Faith & Socialism Commission member
from Socialist Party USA

The Holidays are a time filled with stark contradictions. While most religions offer inspiring messages of peace and love, commercial enterprises attempt to put a price tag on every human emotion and social relation. But the shiniest presents in the world can’t hide the raw inequalities that exist in our country and across the globe. This Holiday season, as a member of the Faith and Socialism Commission, I ask you to consider what really matters – our communities, our planet and the cause of social justice.

What lessons do the scriptures offer religious Socialists during this time of the year? For Jewish people, the story of Hanukkah commemorates a miracle attesting to God’s love for His people, as well as fidelity to truth in times of hardship. Within the story of the rededication of the temple after persecution by Antiochus IV, and the unexpected burning of lamp oil for eight days, lies another truth- perhaps more interesting and sadly still relevant today. At the core of the Hanukkah story is a celebration of the Jewish victory over the Seleucid Empire. Then, as now, peoples
living under the domination of empires are subject to the will of that empire- whether it be the Seleucids or a modern-day empire of global capital. The minority Jews stood little chance against this mighty empire, yet they fought for the continuation of their communities, their customs, and their beliefs. They stood up to empire- and won.

There is also a message of liberation within the familiar Christmas story. In the context of the Roman Empire, the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, a boy was born to a mother who, as tradition has it, declared:

“ He hath put down the mighty from their seat: and hath exalted the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he hath sent empty away.”

During his time on Earth, Jesus exalted and fed the poor and castigated the rich who had made idols of their earthly wealth, declaring that, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” – a saying important enough to Jesus’ disciples to be included in three of the four canonical Gospels.

How might Jesus respond to the massive disparities in wealth in the United States? Or to the fact that 50 million people -including almost one in four children- struggled this past year to obtain sufficient food? How would He react to global inequalities such as the sad fate of the 18,000 children who die each day from hunger? What would He have to say about the wars initiated by modern empires? It seems obvious in these cases whom he would rebuke, and whom he would aid- which system he would indict, and which he would promote.

Jesus turned the “worldly” wisdom of His day on its head and taught that His kingdom is a kingdom of justice for the oppressed, where the mightiest of this world are in fact the lowest in His. Jesus placed God’s kingdom of peace and justice in direct opposition to an unjust system of imperial rule.

This holiday season let us not forget those who like the Jews of Judea, or the early followers of Jesus, suffer at the hands of empires. Let’s remember the enduring light the Jews commemorate, or the “light of the world” that Jesus became to his followers, as symbols of hope for the future. With this hope let’s act with resolve to challenge injustice, defeat the modern empires, and build bonds with our fellow humans strong enough to make real the message of peace and love that is so central to the holiday season. Our traditions show us that this is possible and, just as importantly, that we are on the right side of history when we do so.

by Rev. John Tamilio III, Ph.D. Candidate and F&S commission member.
From the SocialistWebzine

The nonprofit, nonpartisan religious organization Sojourners, founded by Jim Wallis (of God’s Politics fame), circulated a bumper sticker and hosted an on-line petition during the 2004 campaign under the mantra God is not a Republican…or a Democrat. That’s true. God may be a Socialist, though — at least Jesus of Nazareth was.

First of all, Jesus was an itinerant preacher who shunned earthly possessions and sought to establish a covenantal community (a koinonia) in which all people had equal access to food, shelter, and basic care — not to mention God’s grace! Jesus’ message was one that challenged the political and religious authorities of his era by bringing those from the margins to the center of the social order.

Secondly, read the opening chapters of the Book of Acts (the second part of Luke’s Gospel). After the Holy Spirit is bestowed upon the Church (giving birth to the body of Christ on earth) we are told that “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.”(1) Commenting on these verses, Robert W. Wall states that, “A fellowship of believers shares more than common beliefs and core values; they display a profound regard for one another’s spiritual and physical well-being as a community of friends.”(2) Are these not basic civil rights? Is this not a fundamental ethical aspect of communal living in which we are all embroiled (be it in the Church, or society at large, or both)? Two chapters later, the apostolic record reiterates this point:

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.(3)

Yet, for some reason, the two-party system that dominates American political discourse continually vies to incorporate God on “our” side; at least that is one of the objectives of conservative Republicanism. Pundits on the right (the political and religious) constantly claim that this is “a Christian nation.” Remember Dr. D. James Kennedy’s quest to “Reclaim America for Christ”? Although that movement is defunct, the desire is alive and well in the Republican Party and the Evangelical community. Kennedy said it best in his book Character & Destiny: “The time has come, and it is long overdue, when Christians and conservatives and all men and women who believe in the birthright of freedom must rise up and reclaim America for Christ.”(4) Constitutionalists, who fail to read the first ten words of the First Amendment, claim it is part of our national DNA. I recently saw this illustrated in a most offensive way in a Christian bookstore.

In their “God and Country” section, they were selling small statues of Jesus being lowered from the cross wrapped in an American flag as opposed to the white shroud.

What does this all have to do with Socialism?

Obviously, I was being facetious in claiming that God is a Socialist. However, contemporary Christians (liberal and conservative alike) need to take stock of the fact that the fundamental tenets of modern day Socialism are found in the practices of the Early Church. The first believers certainly weren’t Republicans who supported huge tax cuts for big businesses or privatized medicine to make pharmaceutical companies and HMO shareholders wealthy off of those who are lucky enough to afford health insurance. Although the radical agenda found throughout the Gospels coincides with the Democratic platform, it mirrors the principles of Socialism more acutely.

Jesus was a pacifist. He taught about radical inclusivity as a defining characteristic of the realm of God. He sought the liberation of all oppressed people, as Latin American Liberation Theology (with its basis in socialist thought) purports. He incorporated women and children (who had no social status in 30 CE) into his fellowship. He broke bread with (and entered the homes of) tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners — the social pariahs of first century Palestine. He advocated for the physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of all people. He strove for justice for everyone, especially those sequestered to lower or subservient classes. Jesus was a socialist (with a small “s”). The Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles make this self-evident.

It is true that the majority of Americans claim allegiance to one form of Christianity or another. According to the CIA, 75.2% of Americans are either Protestant or Catholic. Mormons comprise 1.7% of the population and “Other Christians” account for 1.6% for a grand total of 78.5%. That obviously does not mean that the spirit of capitalism is the equivalent to the spirit of Christianity, the later being rooted in love and justice and the former in profit and manifest destiny. Political scientist Benjamin R. Barber cautions us that “Social justice makes little headway against market ideology than national self-interest. Markets are by their nature unfair, and when confronted with state-generated public interest issues like justice, full employment, and environmental protection they seek above all to be left alone.”(5)

Abraham Lincoln once said, “my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side.” When we are genuinely concerned about the rights and welfare of all people — regardless of their race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, ability, or age — then (I believe) we are on God’s side. Socialists fight for these rights. Is not the Church Universal called to do the same?

Notes
(1) Acts 2:44-45, NRSV.
(2) Robert W. Wall, “Acts” from The New Interpreter’s Bible, vol. 10 (Nashville: Abingdon, 2002), 71-72.
(3) Acts 4:32-35, NRSV.
(4) D. James Kennedy, with Jim Nelson Black, Character & Destiny: A Nation in Search of Its Soul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 80.
(5)Benjamin R. Barber, Jihad vs. McWorld: Terrorisms Challenge to Democracy (New York: Ballatine Books, 2001), 28.

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John Tamilio III is the Senior Pastor of Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Boston University School of Theology. A nationally published poet and scholar, John can be reached at johnt(at)pilgrimalive.org.